When actress and producer Gal Gadot was named the 2025 Genesis Laureate, Israel was still grappling with the lingering aftermath of the Hamas terrorist attacks on October 7, 2023. Gadot, one of the country’s most globally recognized public figures, chose to use her platform and the Genesis Prize to address a need that philanthropy had largely underserved: “helping the helpers,” those working to heal Israelis in the long term.
Instead of accepting the $1 million prize, Gadot redirected it entirely to Israeli therapists, educators, social workers and health care providers serving Israelis still coping with the psychological devastation of war. The Genesis Prize Foundation (GPF), led by co-founder and chairman Stan Polovets, is seeking to double the prize funds to $2 million in partnership with the Jewish Funders Network (JFN) and additional donors.
A model built for multiplication
To understand why this initiative is important, it helps to understand how the Genesis Prize works. Since its founding in 2013, the foundation has operated according to a model that is unique in the philanthropic world. Each laureate has chosen to forgo the $1 million prize, which they are redirecting to causes of their choosing. The foundation then works to attract matching donors, effectively multiplying the original award. As Genesis Prize co-founder Polovets has explained, this approach has often “doubled and tripled the annual $1 million prize, spurring other funders around important philanthropic causes.”
That track record is significant. Over the past 12 years, The Genesis Prize Foundation’s work has resulted in more than $50 million in grants distributed to over 230 nonprofit organizations in 31 countries. The foundation has partnered with the Jewish Funders Network in the US and Matan/United Way in Israel, both of which serve as convening organizations to attract additional philanthropic participation.
The Gadot Initiative follows the same structure, with the Jewish Funders Network serving as co-administrator. The matching gift model is central to the design. The goal is not just to hand out $2 million, but to use that funding as a signal to other philanthropists that this category of support deserves serious attention.
Why Mental Health Infrastructure, and why now
The design of this initiative reflects a conscious choice. Much of the philanthropic response to 7 October has, understandably, prioritized emergency relief, direct assistance to victims and humanitarian assistance to displaced families. These efforts remain important. But Stan Polovets has emphasized that the Gadot initiative is designed to fill another gap, one that will become more critical as the acute emergency subsides and long-term recovery efforts begin.
“Long-term recovery depends on having enough qualified people and institutions to help individuals, families and communities rebuild,” Polovets said in describing the initiative. “Israel,” he added, “is confronting trauma at a national level, and the therapists, social workers, educators and caregivers responding to that trauma are stretched far beyond capacity by most accounts. The initiative aims to strengthen the professional ecosystem and fund training for additional support staff, so that recovery can be broad and lasting and temporary rather than narrow.”
The logic is one of multiplier effects. A single well-trained trauma therapist or community mental health worker can serve dozens or hundreds of people over time. Funding the professionals who provide care reaches far more individuals than direct support alone, and it builds capacity that will remain long after the initial grant period ends.
The Role of the Genesis Laureate
Gal Gadot’s decision to dedicate her award to this initiative was not just a gesture. It reflects a pattern that has defined the Genesis price since its inception. Past laureates have consistently chosen to forgo the financial award and direct it to causes that resonate personally. Michael Bloomberg established a global social entrepreneurship competition. Steven Spielberg directed his award at racial and economic justice organizations. Albert Bourla financed the construction of a Holocaust museum in Thessaloniki, Greece. Barbra Streisand supported women’s health, climate action and Ukrainian aid.
For Gadot, the connection to Israel’s recovery is personal. A proud Israeli, she seeks to provide both funding and visibility to an underserved category of humanitarian work. As Polovets noted in discussing the foundation’s broader philanthropic vision, laureates do more than contribute money; their public alignment with a cause can mobilize additional funders and bring global attention to issues that might otherwise disappear.
The basis has been clear that Gadot’s role is material. Her decision to endow the prize and her public support for the initiative are important expressions of advocacy that can help mobilize other philanthropists.
Contribution, process and accountability
The Genesis Prize Foundation will make final grant decisions in consultation with the Jewish Funders Network, using a structured review process designed to identify organizations with demonstrated capacity, strong credentials and alignment with the initiative’s goals. The foundation has indicated it intends to do urgent work while maintaining rigor, to ensure funds reach the organizations best positioned to expand trauma care, train additional staff and sustain services over time.
Stan Polovets has been direct about the scale of the challenge in relation to available resources. Those involved in the initiative do not argue that $2 million is enough to address Israel’s full mental health needs in the wake of October 7 and subsequent regional conflicts. Rather, the goal is to make a targeted investment in a strategically important area, one where funding can have ripple effects by strengthening institutions and training professionals who will serve communities for years.
Success, as Stan Polovets has put it, will be measured not just by the number of dollars distributed, but by what those grants produce: more trained professionals, expanded service delivery, stronger organizations, and more Israelis receiving sustained psychological support.
The wider meaning
This initiative follows more than a decade of Genesis Prize growth and impact. The foundation has been flexible when it comes to responding to needs. When Russia invaded Ukraine, the 2023 award shifted from recognizing a single individual to honoring a collective group of Jewish organizations and activists providing humanitarian aid to Ukrainians. At the time of the October 7 attacks, the 2024 award was directed at Israeli organizations that support hostages and their families, providing medical care, psychological counseling and long-term recovery.
These adjustments reveal a foundation willing to adapt its framework to meet the demands of the moment. Stan Polovets has described this approach as one of “innovation, inclusivity and agility,” and the Gadot initiative is consistent with that focus. Where previous cycles focused on direct crisis management, this year’s effort turns to the sustained, structural healing work.
The initiative is also explicitly non-sectarian in its humanitarian framework. Grants are directed to organizations serving people in Israel dealing with war-related trauma and disorders, without religious qualifications. The foundation has been straightforward in describing this as a response to specific societal and humanitarian needs rather than a religiously defined program.
For those tracking how large philanthropic institutions respond to long-standing conflicts, the model used here deserves attention. Gift-matching structures, partnerships with established philanthropic networks, and a focus on institutional capacity rather than just direct aid represent a considered approach to long-term recovery.
What is clear for now is that the co-founder and chairman of the Genesis Prize Foundation and his team have identified a gap in social services, and that the foundation’s decade of experience building philanthropic partnerships positions it to make the effort consistent. Stan Polovets and the Foundation have spent more than ten years demonstrating that a single prestigious award can leverage tens of millions of dollars in overall philanthropic impact. The Gadot Initiative is being applied to one of the most urgent humanitarian needs of this moment.
